Chapter 609 - 505: Since When Did Public Security Have This Kind of Technique?

Chapter 609: Chapter 505: Since When Did Public Security Have This Kind of Technique?

"Xiaoshen, the culprit has been caught. Don’t worry, we’ll see this through to the end and make sure he pays the price he deserves."

In the hospital room, Zhao Hongjie spoke with sincerity, a hint of anger in his eyes. He gently patted Shen Xin and urged, "Xiaoshen, don’t overthink it. Just get some rest."

Shen Xin nodded blankly, his gaze vacant and confused as he looked at Zhao Hongjie.

His ears were still ringing.

So, in reality, Shen Xin hadn’t clearly heard much of what Zhao Hongjie said.

After speaking, Zhao Hongjie shook hands with Shen Haolin, who was standing by the hospital bed, and said a few more words.

He didn’t hold back in his praise for Shen Xin in front of Shen Haolin.

Shen Haolin was beaming with excitement, looking as proud as if he were the one receiving a commendation. When Zhao Hongjie finished, he hastily slapped Shen Xin on the back, signaling for him to speak.

He was his own father, all right—he didn’t know his own strength. The slap made Shen Xin’s head swim, and another wave of nausea washed over him. He quickly said, "Director Zhao, thank you for coming."

Just that one sentence, and Shen Haolin’s expression showed he still wasn’t quite satisfied, as if he found it a bit too dry.

Ding Yuwei was there too, in the same hospital room. Zhao Hongjie offered her a few words of encouragement before finally leaving.

Shen Haolin quickly escorted him out the door and all the way downstairs.

When he returned, Zeng Wenxi, without a word, angrily gave him a couple of swats. She didn’t hit him more than that, quickly turning back to grab a tissue and wipe Shen Xin’s mouth.

The moment Zhao Hongjie left, Shen Xin threw up.

Shen Shuang held the trash can for Shen Xin, her face full of heartache.

Zeng Wenxi was even more distressed. She looked at Shen Xin, then at Ding Yuwei beside him, and said, "Look at the two of you, what you’ve been through. I told you a long time ago not to become police officers, but you just had to."

As she spoke, she sat by Ding Yuwei’s bed, took her hand, her eyes welling up. "Just look," she said, her voice full of sympathy. "Your face is all swollen. What kind of person does that? How could anyone be so vicious?"

"Yuwei, why don’t you two just quit? Or at least stop going out on missions and take a desk job."

"You two can get married at the end of the year, my husband and I will be ready to retire, and we can hand the company over to you."

"Just look at what they did to you."

Ding Yuwei didn’t know how to respond, but she was silently moved.

Shen Xin got hurt, and his family rushed over immediately.

She, on the other hand, was all alone.

Shen Xin threw up a pool of yellow bile, then collapsed back onto the bed, gasping for breath. After a moment, he turned his head and asked, "Yuwei, did I tell you that guy was the murderer?"

Across from him, Ding Yuwei sighed and nodded. "You did."

The examination showed that Shen Xin had a mild to moderate concussion. The doctor had also said he might experience temporary memory confusion, or even amnesia.

That was why Shen Xin had already asked this question several times.

"Good, as long as I told you."

Shen Xin lay back down, unable to stop himself from wondering, ’Who the hell is this guy? Why would he have anything to do with Li Siyu?’

But for the life of him, he just couldn’t figure it out.

Besides, even now, the case still had many unanswered questions.

For example, how did that shoehorn-faced man leave the scene after stealing the video recorder?

And why did he turn right after leaving through the small gate, taking a detour?

These questions on Shen Xin’s mind were, in fact, the very same ones Zhang Hancheng was pondering at that moment.

Just as he was thinking, people from the Ministry of State Security arrived.

Everyone knew about the Public Security Bureau, but the Ministry of State Security was always shrouded in a mysterious aura.

In reality, they were much the same—ordinary people doing ordinary work in extraordinary positions.

"Old Qian."

Zhang Hancheng stood up and shook hands with the middle-aged man leading the group.

Qian Zidan, director of the First Investigation Department of the Nanjiang City Ministry of State Security.

The First Investigation Department was primarily responsible for domestic state security work.

Qian Zidan was around the same age as Zhang Hancheng, but he looked even younger. He had medium-length black hair combed into a retro side part.

He had a square face, double eyelids, and faint acne scars.

"Senior, what’s up? Any directives for me?" Qian Zidan asked with a chuckle.

Zhang Hancheng was, in fact, his senior.

Both had graduated from Ningjiang Public Security College in the nineties; Zhang Hancheng was two years ahead of him.

Of course, they hadn’t actually known each other back in school.

Initially, he had been assigned to work in Guyang City and was only later transferred to Nanjiang.

But the courtesy was genuine.

The Ministry of State Security had a direct chain of command. Although both were technically People’s Police, if one had to make a distinction, they weren’t part of the same system as the Public Security Bureau.

But that being said, day-to-day case handling required mutual cooperation.

And as the captain of the Municipal Criminal Investigation Division, Zhang Hancheng was in charge of criminal cases, and the MSS often needed his cooperation for their operations. He was truly a useful contact.

"Forget about directives. Come on, I’ve got something to show you."

Zhang Hancheng led Qian Zidan to a computer and pulled up the surveillance footage from Wetland Park.

It was the footage of Mao Ruiqiang attacking Shen Xin and the other three officers.

"What’s this about? This guy’s skills are pretty good," Qian Zidan remarked casually.

Then, he saw the part of the video where Mao Ruiqiang cleanly and decisively took down Zhao Tianxing and his partner.

His expression immediately turned serious.

"Senior, what’s the situation? These four are your people, right?" It was only when he saw Yang Zeran fire his gun that Qian Zidan confirmed Shen Xin’s group were police officers.

One against four, and especially that final series of reactions—Mao Ruiqiang was definitely a highly trained expert.

Zhang Hancheng nodded, then pulled out the crime scene photos from Tongquan Garden for Qian Zidan to see.

He also described Mao Ruiqiang’s escape.

"Old Qian, what are your thoughts?" Zhang Hancheng asked in return.

The grin was gone from Qian Zidan’s face. In a somber voice, he asked where the man was.

Zhang Hancheng didn’t waste any words and led the three of them to the interrogation room.

Mao Ruiqiang was brazen, but it wouldn’t come to torture.

But Zhang Hancheng wasn’t going to let him get too comfortable either.

He’d been left cuffed in the interrogation room the whole time.

Sitting on that "cold bench" for a long time was uncomfortable, but Mao Ruiqiang seemed fine, completely unfazed.

Qian Zidan watched Mao Ruiqiang silently, now fully understanding why Zhang Hancheng had contacted him.

Exceptional combat skills, a history of living abroad, insisting on running home to burn everything after assaulting police officers, plus a pre-planned escape route.

The answer was practically screaming at him.

"He Li, do you recognize this man?" Qian Zidan asked, turning to one of his subordinates.

She was a young woman with short hair, dressed in plainclothes.

She had a special talent: a powerful memory, able to remember anything she saw.

He Li shook her head.

Qian Zidan pulled Zhang Hancheng to a seat, his face once again wreathed in a smile. He took out a cigarette for him, lit it, and only then asked, "Senior, what’s really going on here? Tell me everything, from start to finish."

The police had done the MSS’s job and caught a spy; there had to be a reason for it.

Since Zhang Hancheng had contacted the Ministry of State Security, it meant he wanted their advice on the case.

He had one theory: perhaps Li Siyu was a spy.

Otherwise, why would she have died at Mao Ruiqiang’s hands?

But he couldn’t figure it out. Li Siyu was just an ordinary streamer. If she were a spy, what could she possibly hope to achieve by infiltrating Wang Liang’s company?

Moreover, Li Siyu’s record was clean; she didn’t seem like someone who would be mixed up with spies.

The whole thing felt off.

The Ministry of State Security had its own intelligence network. He’d called them in hoping to solve this very problem.

Zhang Hancheng led Qian Zidan and his two colleagues back to the task force’s conference room and briefed them on everything, starting from the beginning of the case.

He Li and the other young male investigator had already started poring over the investigation records and case files.

Qian Zidan lit another cigarette for Zhang Hancheng, his focus landing on a rather strange detail. "Senior," he asked, "your police dogs are something else, huh? Are they really able to trace a suspect’s path that accurately?"

Their Ministry of State Security bureau didn’t have its own dedicated K-9 unit, but they sometimes requested K-9 support.

After all, the MSS was also in the business of catching criminals.

But based on his past work experience, Qian Zidan really couldn’t recall police dogs ever being this impressive—able to determine from across a flower bed, no less, that the suspect had fled in a car.

A hint of pride was unavoidable in Zhang Hancheng’s tone. "But of course."

In any case, the dogs trained by Shen Xin were clearly on another level.

He continued his explanation, following the main thread of the investigation.

At the end, he remarked with a sigh, "To be honest, at first, I myself thought this was just an ordinary criminal case."

"And before this morning, we were completely unaware of this Mao Ruiqiang’s existence. He just appeared out of nowhere and was then identified by our K-9."

He also brought over a laptop and pulled up the surveillance video from Shen Xin’s team.

"See, the four of them were originally tailing Wang Liang. They only happened to notice this guy’s movements were suspicious; he’d appeared near Wang Liang yesterday."

"They had no idea beforehand that Mao Ruiqiang was the murderer, which is why they opted for a simple probe."

In Zhang Hancheng’s view, there was nothing wrong with the choice Shen Xin made at the time.

He just felt something was off with the guy and wanted to check things out.

Had they known he was such a ruthless character, Shen Xin, with his personality, would have definitely called for backup, and the whole series of events that followed wouldn’t have happened.

Qian Zidan nodded repeatedly, but his focus still wasn’t on the case itself.

He stared intently at the surveillance video, asking in amazement, "Senior, how are you doing this? Is that... a bird?"

As an MSS investigator, surveillance and tracking were basic skills.

And now, he was actually seeing a crow surveilling a target.

Qian Zidan was completely blown away.

He grabbed the laptop and rewound the video to watch it again carefully.

The bird followed from the sky; wherever the person went, the bird went.

The bird was in a tree, then flying in the sky—who the hell would ever notice that?

This kind of surveillance method was simply unbelievable.

Especially later, after Mao Ruiqiang fled the park, Er Long followed him the entire way.

Mao Ruiqiang’s car weaved through traffic, but Er Long never lost him.

Qian Zidan drew in a sharp breath. He immediately looked up at Zhang Hancheng and pressed, "Senior, what is this?"

’Since when did you Public Security guys have methods like this?’

Hm?

That tone, that reaction.

Zhang Hancheng raised an eyebrow, instantly on his guard.